NASA's Phoenix spacecraft lands on Mars

Abstract

After a 9.5‐month, 679‐million‐kilometer flight from Florida, NASA's Phoenix spacecraft made a soft landing in Vastitas Borealis in Mars's northern polar region on 25 May. The lander, whose camera already has returned some spectacular images, is on a 3‐month mission to examine the area and dig into the soil of this site—chosen for its likelihood of having frozen water near the surface—and analyze samples. In addition to a robotic arm and robotic arm camera, the lander's instruments include a surface stereo imager; thermal and evolved‐gas analyzer; microscopy, electrochemistry, and conductivity analyzer; and a meteorological station that is tracking daily weather and seasonal changes.Peter Smith of the University of Arizona, the mission's principal investigator, said the workspace around the lander “is ideal for us because it looks very diggable. We are very happy to see just a few rocks scattered in the digging area.” Phoenix is NASA's first mission to return data from either of Mars's polar regions, contributing to the agency's Mars science strategy to “follow the water.”